As I begin this column, the idiocy in Washington continues. Do we default on our debt? Does the government remain closed indefinitely? I refuse to think about it and slip into a reverie about my "Good Old Days."

Flash back to 1966. I was newly employed by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a chemist in a water laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska. Along with other new hires, I was part of a training program to acquaint us with all aspects of the work of the USGS Water Resources Division. It was March and I was informed that I'd be going to the field with an experienced employee to measure the flow and collect samples at a river about an hour from Lincoln.

Bruce and I loaded the vehicle and drove to the site. The temperature was in the upper 30's and the river, about 50 feet wide, was frozen over. Flow measurements are typically made and samples collected either by wading into the river or, if it is too deep to wade, from a bridge. However, with ice, you can't do either. Instead, what was required was to walk on the ice and to chop holes to allow access for our measuring and sampling equipment to the flowing water under the ice.

When we arrived, Bruce put on a pair of hip boots. "Why wear boots", I asked?

"Because, if the ice should break, I won't get wet", he replied. "Going through the ice and getting wet is totally embarrassing."

Oh ___, I thought. I didn't have hippers but I had a brand new pair of chest waders that I promptly put on. Then, picking up my assigned equipment I headed for the stream bank. The edge was about five feet above the ice and at about a 30 degree angle.

It was slick from thawing. I carefully started down and after one step my feet went out from under me and I slid down the bank flat on my back and onto the ice. Humiliation! Bruce laughingly jeered, "Wait till I tell folks at the office."

We chopped more than 20 holes in the four-inch thick ice. We measured the flow of the water and collected samples through the holes. We worked for over two hours. The temperature warmed to 40 degrees. The ice creaked frighteningly as we walked back and forth across the river.

Finally we finished and climbed out. I made it successfully. Only one item was left on the ice, something called a tag line that was stretched across the river to show us where to chop the holes. Bruce said that he'd retrieve the tag line while I loaded the other the equipment in the truck.

I loaded the truck and then watched Bruce walking across the ice reeling the tag line. He almost made it back to the bank when with a loud crack, the ice broke and he went through. The river was only a little over 2 feet deep but it just over-topped his hip boots. He struggled out and climbed up the bank.

He shucked out of his boots and poured out the water. His jeans were soaked. As he was wringing out his socks, I said, "Uh, Bruce….."

He replied, "I'm not sayin' a word and you better not either." So ended my first field trip. What a beginning for a 36-year USGS career!